Broken (Prequel to Beauty and the High-Functioning Sociopath)

Growing Up

Three years had passed since the bucket incident. Alex was a smart alec third grader now. Well, she used to be a smart alec third grader. John had noticed a change in her behavior. She was more timid and submissive. She would start to get scared if anyone raised their voice at her. One day, John walked into her room while he was doing her homework. He knocked on the doorframe.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Sure." Alex said.

"You seem quiet lately." John said, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Alex said. Her voice sounded shakey, though. 

"You sure?" John asked.

"Uh huh." Alex nodded. "What's six times twelve?"

"Ninety-six." John answered.

"Thank you." Alex said, jotting down the numbers on her math worksheet. 

"Okay." John nodded. 

The next morning, John went to go wake Alex up. She wouldn't get out of bed. She started to get mad at him and started yelling at them. It turned into a fight between her, her mother, and John. Alex started crying. John's mother left the room, exasperated. John got down on eye level with Alex.

"Alex, what is it?" He said. 

"I just don't want to go." Alex said.

"No, that's not it." John shook his head. "Tell me what's going on. I might be able to help."

"My teacher yells at me all the time. It's only me, not anyone else. I haven't done anything wrong. I don't understand, John!" Alex said. "What did I do? Why is she picking on me?"

 "I don't know. Have you been talking back to her?" John asked.

"I don't think so." Alex said. "No, I haven't! I really don't know what I've been doing wrong."

"What does she say to you?" John asked. 

"She...she just is really mean! I'll look out the window for one second and then I get in trouble!" Alex said. "She told me I'm not gonna move up to fourth grade either. She told me I'm stupid."

"She did what?!" John said. "Okay, that's it." 

John took Alex to school. She walked into the classroom, the look on her face like someone who was walking to their death. John saw how her posture changed when she met her teacher's eyes. She looked like she was an Omega wolf submitting to an Alpha. The teacher gave her a stern look. Alex hung her head low as she hung her coat and backpack. John walked up to the teacher.

"Um, yes, hello, my name is John Watson. I'm Alex's older brother." He said, gesturing to his younger sister.

"Alexandra." The teacher corrected.

"I call her Alex." John said. "She was crying this morning and I just wanted to make sure that she's doing all right. Is there any sort of social trouble or anything?"

"This is more of an area for the parents to discuss with me." The teacher said. 

"She's my sister." John said. "I need to make sure she's okay."

"Well, since you aren't going to let this go, she's rebellious. She looks out the window even when I tell her not to." The teacher said.

"Well, is she able to answer questions correctly?" John asked.

"Yes." The teacher nodded.

"Then I don't see what the big deal is." John said.

"She won't follow the rules." The teacher said. "Yelling at her doesn't seem to work."